Re-nomination: Battle With The Mafia and Local Politicians
Following the dissolution of the cabinet by Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, Usman was one of nine out of a total of 42 ministers re-nominated to serve as a government Minister in the new cabinet. This was due to his neutrality on political issues and good working relationship with the Acting President. Usman’s re-nomination was not viewed favorably by members of the Kano State PDP chapter, as they perceived Usman to be a technocrat and not a politician, and as such would not serve the self-interests of the People’s Democratic Party in Kano State. This led to political lobbying from several interest groups to prevent his nomination. As a result, the Presidency instructed the Senate to delay his screening, and by the next morning, the local newspapers were reporting that he had been dropped as a Minister due to political interests against his appointment as a Technocrat.
However, on the same morning of the newspaper reports, Usman was the first to be screened by the Senate where he answered a variety of questions on the economy, and answered questions on his performance as a Minister of Finance and National Planning. It was here where he made his famous statements on his battles with the economic mafia in Nigeria who sabotage the government’s revenue generating ability.
- “I had taken on so many mafia; I had taken on the customs mafia, I had taken on the tax concession mafia who are draining this country out of its revenues. Everybody knows the Committee I set up under Senator Udoma saved this country billions of naira. I took on the oil importation mafia; I took on the ports system mafia because I was trying to achieve 48 hours clearance."
Read more about this topic: Shamsuddeen Usman
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